Crossing the Bar (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Alfred, Lord Tennyson
- First Published: 1889
- Type of Work: Lyric
- Genres: Poetry, Lyric poetry
The Poem
Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s “Crossing the Bar” is a sixteen-line poem divided into four four-line stanzas of differing metrical structure. The predominantly iambic lines vary in length, ranging from four-syllable lines (dimeters) to ten-syllable, iambic pentameter lines. The stanzas follow a consistent abab rhyme pattern.
The opening line establishes the poem’s temporal setting, an unspecified ship that is ready to sail at sunset. As the sun descends, the light of the evening star, a beacon for mariners, rises. Line 9 again draws attention to the...
[The entire page is 1592 words long]
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